The Weekend in Montauk
by cobrafantasies
Summary: When the gang goes to the beach house in Montauk, a secret romance is revealed.
1. Chapter 1

**Author:** Jen

**Author's** **Note:** This story is inspired from the storyline in season 3 when the gang goes to the beach house in Montauk to find out more about Phoebe's dad. Most of the timeline/events from the actual show will not match up with my story.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I do not own anything or any of the characters

**A**/**N:** When the gang goes to the beach house in Montauk, a secret romance is revealed.

* * *

I'm hanging out with the girls in Monica's apartment. We've been here for a couple of hours. Mainly, we're going over Rachel's conflicting feelings on whether she wants to get back together with Ross even though he's now dating a new girl Bonnie.

I'm completely invested until I hear a door close from the hallway - Joey is home. I tense up instantly. My heartbeat speeds up and I hope I'm not visibly sweating.

I debate how I should handle this as the girls haven't even stopped talking.

"O-oh," I quickly blurt out and they fall silent and look at me as I jump up from the couch.

I put my hand over my stomach.

"Ladies, I think the coffee has circulated," I tell them.

Rachel and Monica show disgust as Phoebe nods knowing I'm implying a bathroom trip.

"Go on without me," I call as I hurry out of the apartment and back across the hall.

I open the door and stop the moment I see Joey, who is weirdly dressed very nice in black suit pants and a formal top.

"Oh...hi?" I express surprise as I close the door behind me.

He turns to me fully and smiles.

"You forget I live here?" he teases me immediately.

"No, you look dressed up and it caught me off guard," I defend.

"Oh yeah, I had that audition for 'classy, rich guy'...clearly I'm not selling it well."

"No, I totally believe it," I tell him.

He gives me a look of disbelief.

"I'm just not used to seeing you all fancy, but you look nice - _of course_," I say in a sincere tone and his expression lightens.

"Well don't get used to it," he warns me.

"Why?"

He cracks a smile and closes the space between us.

"Cause it's coming off and so is this," he says, swiftly pulling off my sweater vest.

"Now you look nice too," he adds as he drops my sweater to the floor.

"_Hey!_" I remark offended.

He grins widely as he leans in and kisses me forcefully.

I grab hold of him and kiss him hungrily back.

He proceeds to start undoing the buttons to my shirt.

"Can you stop wearing these?" he whines.

"What - dress shirts?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"They take too long to get off and you yell at me if I rip them open," he reminds me.

"Cause they're expensive shirts and I need them for work -I can't have you rip all the buttons off!" I argue

He pulls the bottom of my shirt up, out of my pants so he can finish the rest of the buttons.

"But it would be hot," he notes.

I can't help, but grin at his comment until we hear the sound of a door from the hallway and frantically pull apart from each other.

I grab the ends of my shirt together as we stand frozen, expecting one of our friends to walk through the door.

Silence slowly fills the air and we both finally breathe again.

"We really have to tell them," Joey huffs out a nervous breath.

"I know - we will," I tell him.

"When?" he stresses tiredly.

We've had this conversation about every single day since we started this fling of ours three weeks ago.

"Soon."

"You say that every time," he complains.

"Alright, look we can sit here and pick a day to tell our friends or we could move this to the bedroom," I raise my eyebrows at him.

"Let's pick a day," he chooses much to my dismay.

"Okay... but I can't do both," I quickly decide.

"Both of what?" he questions me confused.

"Pick a day or sex."

He narrows his eyes at me.

"You can do both."

"Nope, I'm terrible at multi-tasking," I throw my hands up in the air.

He gives me an annoyed look.

"_Fine -_ pick a day," he demands and I wasn't expecting this outcome.

I panic.

"I can't - not yet," I fret.

"Why?"

The truth is I have no idea what we're doing or what this is. Is this more than a fling? Am I ready for that? I don't know how I feel and I'm not ready to talk it out with Joey or anyone else. Once we tell our friends, then it's _real_ and everyone will be invested in our every moment forever... or until we break up. And that sounds absolutely terrifying.

So, I choose to live in my own made-up world where no one has to know and nothing has to change and we have no one to tell. In my world, I can simply continue sleeping with Joey while also being his best friend all the while wanting his touch every second of everyday - I really don't think it's serious.

"I promise we will tell them, I'm just... not ready," I try.

Joey looks instantly saddened by this response.

"Cause you're embarrassed or somethin'?"

"No, of course not!"

I shake my head a million miles a minute as I run back over to him.

"You clearly don't want them to know," he retorts.

I run my hands over his arms soothingly.

"Honest, I do! I want _everyone_ to know... just not right now," I plead hoping he will accept this.

He keeps a frown plastered on his face and it hurts me.

I run my thumb down his sulking lips.

"Come on, how can I be embarrassed when you're so handsome?" I say and I pinch his chin in my hand.

A tiny smile starts forming at the ends of his mouth but he suppresses it.

"Please don't be mad at me," I pout my sorry lips at him.

Finally, a smirk pushes through and he diverts his eyes from my pleading trap.

He swats my hand off his face.

"I can never stay mad at you," he responds softly.

I smile happily at him now and he looks back into my eyes.

I lean in and kiss him and he kisses me back.

He pulls away for a moment with a devilish look in his eyes.

"So, we didn't pick a day... I think that means we have to do the second option," he reminds me.

I smile even wider.

"Thank god you remembered!"

He snickers and we race into the bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm sitting at the small table in Central Perk as Bonnie, Ross's new girlfriend, is going on and on about her lifetime of sex-capades. I'm not happy about this because Joey looks _way_ too interested. I'm not trying to watch his eyes light up every damn time she reveals another crazy location she has had sex, but I can't help see him - he's sitting at the end of the orange couch and Bonnie is in the arm-chair right next to him. Luckily, I'm not the only disgruntled one - Rachel looks like she wants to tear her ears off.

Phoebe suddenly enters the coffee shop very hurriedly.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!" Phoebe expresses excitedly.

She hands Joey a picture.

"That's my mom's writing — on the back! You know what this means right?"

We all stare at her with no replies.

I would usually make some sarcastic remark, but having to watch Joey get all riled up from Bonnie's sex stories left me in an annoyed mood.

"This woman was best friends with my mom. She probably has so many stories about my parents - she may even know where my dad is! So, I looked her up and she lives out by the beach. Maybe we could all go to the beach this weekend!"

"Yeah!" everyone immediately sings in unison.

"Shoot! I can't go, I have to work." Bonnie sighs.

"That's too bad," Ross frowns.

"Ohh, big fat bummer," Rachel sarcastically jumps in.

"So, great! Okay! Tomorrow we will all drive out to Montauk," Phoebe proclaims.

"Hey, Bonnie had sex there!" Joey points out avidly.

Rachel and I both immediately give Joey cold glares and he apologizes shyly to both of us.

* * *

The next day, we finally get to the beach house after a long drive.

I have to admit I'm excited to spend the weekend with Joey at the beach even though we can't truly spend it the way I want. Which would be curled up in bed with him all weekend as well as some nice walks along the beach at night. Of course, if I mention this to Joey he would argue that we could spend the weekend this way if we tell all of our friends. But just the thought of that makes my body instantly fill with anxiety and fear and I would never enjoy the weekend anyway. So, I keep my mouth shut and hope Joey and I manage to get a little alone time somehow.

When we enter the beach house, the floors are covered with a foot of sand everywhere.

"Oh yeah, I was told there might be floor damage," Phoebe comments.

We all walk in and drop our bags on the sandy floors.

It's late so we're probably all going to head in for the night. I'm thinking it wouldn't be weird at all for Joey and I to bunk together - maybe there's a room with two beds or a pull out cot or something, not that we would need the second bed in reality.

"So, what's the room situation," I ask Phoebe.

"Oh, that's the best part - we all get our own rooms!" Phoebe crushes my dreams.

"Ooh I call an ocean view!" Rachel shouts and everyone fans out to pick a bedroom.

I drag my bags down the hall and find everyone has taken their rooms already and now Joey and I are on opposite ends of the hallway.

I put my bags in my room and then peak out to the hall to see if everyone's doors are closed. The coast looks clear so I quickly sneak down to Joey's room. I carefully open his door and he's already half naked, about to remove his underwear, when I interrupt him.

"Hey, hey," I whisper sharply.

He turns around, not realizing I had snuck in.

"Oh, hey - what are you doing here?" he whispers back, already showcasing an excited grin on his face.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," I murmur back quietly.

He takes my hand and pulls me closer to him.

He kisses me and I melt right into him.

"Stay - no one's even going to notice," he breathes over my lips.

"I _can't_," I stress worriedly under my breath.

"You're already here," Joey protests as he wraps his arms around me and I already feel warm in his embrace.

"I really don't think it's a goo-" I start with another scared excuse, but he kisses me mid-sentence.

I'm falling into his lips as I feel myself getting heated already.

"_Joey__ we can't_," I pull back abruptly.

He sighs.

"But we haven't slept apart since this all started," he whispers.

He makes me realize this for the first time. We have slept in the same bed every single night for the past three weeks now. We haven't been apart once.

I look at his face and wish I could stay. Of course I want to cuddle his naked body like I do every night and wake up next to him in the morning, but I'm too terrified of getting caught. Or of having to admit everything to our friends.

"It's too risky... I'm sorry," I apologize and plant a sorry kiss on his lips.

He sighs sorrowfully.

"Don't be mad, I'll make it up to you okay?" I whisper quickly and kiss him once more before returning to the hall to head back to my room.

I close his door and walk away.

* * *

It's two in the morning and I can't sleep.

Joey was right, we haven't slept alone in three weeks and I officially hate it. The bed feels so cold and empty. I turn over and try to force myself to sleep when the phone jolts me awake with a loud ring.

I jump up and grab the corded phone sitting on the nightstand.

"Hh-hello?" I answer shakily.

"Hey, it's Joey!" I hear an overjoyed whisper come from the other end.

"You called the house line?"

"I found a paper next to the phone - they all have different numbers. So, we can talk on here and it's not connected to the other phones," he exclaims in a hushed tone.

My face lights up at this revelation.

"Oh, this is perfect!" I express in an excited whisper.

"I know."

"So, you couldn't sleep either?" I ask.

"Of course not, I miss you too much," he says and I feel my heart flutter.

"I miss you too," I respond without even thinking.

"I wish we could just sleep in the same room," he breathes.

"Me too," I sigh.

Silence washes over the phone for a moment.

"This bed feel so empty without you," I tell him.

"Want me to sneak over?" he offers.

"No - Joey, come on. Let's just talk until we fall asleep okay?" I suggest.

"Okayy," he accepts.

"So, um..." I try to start a conversation, but I can't think of anything. Usually, we talk about our day, but we sat in a car all day. I also can't ask him what he's up to - I know he's not doing anything, he lying in a bed down the hall from me. I really just want him next to me, I start thinking about how warm his skin would feel wrapped around mine. I replay the soft kisses he gave me only a few hours ago and I start really wanting him. I think maybe we don't have to be in the same room to satisfy some of this tension. Unfortunately, I don't know how to be sexy...

"So... what are you wearing?" is all I can think to ask.

There's silence for a moment and I think I hear him sneer at my question.

"Nothing."

I smack myself in the forehead feeling like an idiot.

"I sleep naked," he reminds me when I don't respond for a few moments.

"Right - heh I knew that, _duh_," I breathe out nervously.

I'm sure he's laughing at me, I'm so stupid.

"You're cute," he whispers.

I still feel foolish.

"I was... trying to be like...'sexy' - ugh I'm sorry," I chastise myself over the phone.

"Chandler, you're the sexiest guy I know," he tells me.

I shake my head.

"Oh _yeah_ _sureee_\- if you could see my face right now... I'm making a classic, sarcastic Chandler face."

"I'm serious," he insists.

"I'm not the _sexiest_ guy you _know_," I debate strongly.

"Yes, you are - to _me_," he clarifies and I can't help, but smile so much at how sweet he is.

But of course, I still refuse to accept his compliment.

"You're just kissing my ass," I attest.

"I wish."

I gasp at his response.

"_Joey!_" I utter with surprise.

"You want to kiss mine too," he plays right back.

"Uhhhhmmm actually-" I start.

I grin so wide - I can't even think of a good comeback.

"You're right," I give in and admit defeat.

He chuckles and I snicker right back.

I lie back in my bed as the exhaustion is finally hitting me.

Joey starts the conversation back up.

"But listen, I was being for real... I think you're really sexy and I'm not afraid to admit it okay?" he pushes again.

I lick my lips into another huge smile.

"Okay you can admit it," I let out a delighted breath.

"Yes I can. I have a very sexy boyfriend," Joey breathes and the moment I hear the word I freeze.

Did he...just call me his _boyfriend_? I can't move.

Oh my god - are we boyfriends? Are we _this_ serious? What's happening - I can't feel my legs.

My sheer panic apparently takes over for enough time that Joey starts to sound concerned.

"Chandler?... Hello? — Are you still there?... Chandler?"

He keeps asking, but I can't speak. Do I pretend like it's no big deal? Oh, who am I kidding IT IS A BIG DEAL!

I do the only thing I can think to do. The only thing a reasonable person having a full on anxiety attack would do - I hang up.


	3. Chapter 3

I barely sleep.

The rest of the hours left before sunrise, I'm not only freaking out about the fact that Joey called me his boyfriend, but I'm also freaking out that we now have to talk about this and I literally can't avoid him and I have no idea what to say and also...I feel really bad I hung up on my baby. Like how rude of me.

I guess I dose off eventually because I open my eyes to the bright sun beaming in through the window. I look at the clock and it's eight a.m.

I get up from the bed and get dressed. I hear people in the kitchen and figure it's best if everyone is around so then Joey can't bring it up... at least not right away.

I hurry out to the kitchen and find everyone except Joey there. Monica is already whipping up breakfast and everyone greets me and offers me coffee.

I settle in and relax for a while until Joey finally emerges from his room.

I feel panicked the moment I see him and avoid eye contact at all costs.

We all fill up on Monica's delicious food and a lot of coffee.

After digesting for a while, Rachel kicks things into gear.

"Okay, who's ready to hit the beach?" Rachel cheers.

We all decide to have a beach day except Phoebe who is going to look for her mom's friend named Phoebe as well to find out more about her parents.

Everyone disperses to their rooms to get ready when I'm suddenly yanked aside by my arm.

It's Joey - of course.

"He-heyyyy," I stammer out nervously.

"Hey, what happened last night?" Joey asks in a quieter voice.

A million thoughts run through my head and I have no idea what excuse I'm going with.

"What? Nothing happened?" I choke out.

He looks at me more concerned than anything, which makes me feel bad again.

"_Chandler_," he stresses for a real answer.

"Oh, I fell asleep," I lie.

"That fast?"

I nod my head too much.

"Yep," I shrug, hoping any of this is believable.

"Really? Cause all I said wa..." he begins trying to piece things together, but I quickly lunge forward to kiss him as a distraction.

He looks surprised I would take such a risk and he's right - I am beyond nervous, but right now the chance of someone walking back into the kitchen and catching us seems better than telling Joey the truth about last night.

"Sorry, I just knocked out," I continue to lie.

He seems happy now that he got a surprise kiss.

"Alright," he accepts with a smile.

I smile back.

"We better get ready," I say and we head to our rooms.

* * *

We get to the beach and Joey immediately starts digging a large hole in the sand.

Monica and Rachel lay out in the sun to tan and Ross lies next to them to whine about missing Bonnie.

The beach completely takes my mind off last night and I'm so happy to forget about it and not worry every second.

I decide to try and get a nice tan and within twenty minutes I already feel like I'm burning. I start putting more sunscreen on when Joey walks back to where we're lounging to take a break from his excessive digging.

"Oh, good could you get my back?" I ask him, holding out a tube of sunscreen.

He takes the lotion and plops down behind me. He begins rubbing the lotion over my back. I look over at our friends, wondering if this might look odd. Maybe I should have asked one of the girls? Luckily, everyone is either face down or shielding their eyes from the sun.

Of course, that doesn't stop Joey from being over the top obvious when his hands start squeezing my shoulders and massaging me.

It feels nice, but I can't let him continue.

I clear my throat, trying to give him the hint to stop. He does stop, but proceeds to slide his hands down my sides and around to the front of my bare chest.

"_Hey_ \- what are you doing?" I fret in a whisper.

"What? I need to do your chest," he sneers by my ear, knowing exactly what he's doing.

"I got that already," I press, nervously peering back over at our friends.

"We can't let your nipples burn," he teases and starts rubbing his thumbs over my nipples.

I swat him away, but try not to make too much of a scene that our friends would look up at us.

"_Joey!_" I hiss quietly.

He stops and lets his hands drop off of me.

He sighs.

"No one was looking," he grumbles.

"They're like five feet away," I whisper sharply back.

He rolls his eyes and then heads back to his hole by the water to continue digging.

I lie back down, trying to calm my anxiety down.

Unfortunately, within an hour the sky begins to get cloudy and soon it's down pouring.

We all run back to the house, drenched.

* * *

A few hours later, it's really storming and there's nothing to do. We all sit in the sandy living room bored.

"Hey, you know what a good rainy-day game is?" Joey perks up with an idea.

"What?" Monica inquires curiously.

"Strip poker - we should totally play strip poker," he suggests.

We all yell "NO" in unison and I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't want to play.

Unfortunately, our insane boredom and a large round of margaritas somehow still leads us to playing strip poker. I'm not happy about this until we start playing and it ends up Joey is the worst one. He's already down his shoes, socks and now he takes off his shirt. Guess I don't mind staring at my sexy man shirtless. I'm enjoying the view as we move onto the next round when suddenly Bonnie enters the house abruptly.

Hey!" Bonnie greets us, putting down a soaked sun hat.

"Hey, Bonnie!" Ross greets her surprised and overjoyed.

"I'm off the rest of the weekend so I took the train in!" she explains.

"Oh great!" Ross exclaims and gives her a kiss hello.

I hear Rachel grunt in disgust next to me.

"What are you guys doing?" she asks.

"Playing strip Happy Days game!" Joey answers.

"Cool! I'll catch up!" she expresses cheerfully and immediately takes her sweater off which leaves us all with our mouths hanging open.

She casually sits down in just her bra and now I officially hate this.

"Finally, someone else is getting naked!" Joey celebrates, but I give him a stern glare and he catches it and immediately wipes the smile off his face and averts his eyes.

Thankfully, Rachel and I work together to stop the strip game after only one more round.

We all share another pitcher of margaritas and Phoebe fills Bonnie in on all her family discoveries, which we all heard about earlier. I'm just glad it keeps Bonnie from talking about her sex life again.

* * *

As the night gets later, everyone eventually heads to their rooms to relax for the night.

The storm has finally calmed down and the sky is clearing up.

I sneak into Joey's room.

"Hey," I whisper.

"Hey."

"I was thinking - the rain stopped. Maybe we could go for a walk?" I suggest.

"Just the two of us?" he asks.

"Yeah, no one will notice."

He obviously agrees and we head out to beach to walk along the shore line like I wanted.

It's so nice, we get to hold hands and talk and make out a bit too. Of course, Joey suggests we have sex on the beach and I tell him it's illegal and people could walk by and of course he rolls his eyes at me again.

"You have to stop rolling your eyes at me," I warn him playfully.

"You have to stop being such a wimp," he fights back.

I let my mouth drop open at his words.

"_Hey_, I'm not a wimp!" I slap his arm.

"You're too scared to do anything," he whines.

"Hey, who's idea was it to sneak out tonight?" I defend.

"Then, sleep in my room tonight," he challenges me.

"I can't, they could easily catch us walking out together - or worse, hear us while we're in there together!" I refute.

"Ughh, why are you so scared of getting caught? Why don't we just tell them?" he stops and turns to me with a hopeful face.

"I told you I'm not ready," I tell him.

"Are you ever going to be ready?" he questions me seriously.

I gulp a nervous lump down.

"Of course," I respond sincerely.

"Well, when?"

"I don't know."

He lets out a long, frustrated breath.

I'm preparing myself for this fight to go on, especially since I can't distract him with sex or food right now.

Instead, he surprises me in a worse way.

"Am I your boyfriend?" he throws at me unexpectedly.

I stand at a loss for words, my heart starts pounding.

I start shaking my head until I force out a "Yeah."

My voice cracks and I doubt it sounded convincing.

"You sure?" he tests.

"Yes, I'm sure," I say in an extremely high voice.

I cough to get my pitch back down.

"Why, you didn't think you were?" I laugh as if I'm not having a panic attack.

"You hung up last night."

Now, I'm definitely sweating.

So, he did know - of course he knew. God, I'm such an idiot thinking he would believe my dumb falling asleep line when you can hear the call end.

"I...did," I admit uneasily.

"Chandler, what's going on?" he questions me.

I gulp back more nerves, realizing I have to come clean.

"Okay, the truth is... I wasn't sure what this was," I tell him.

"Didn't you know when I called you my boyfriend?" he asks a very good question.

"Well, yeah...uhm I mean, I guess I wasn't expecting that - I didn't realize you already thought that."

"So, you're _not_ okay with it?"

"No, of course I am - I mean of course I want to be with you!" I spill out.

"But not as boyfriends?" he clarifies.

"No - yes! I mean, I _want_ to be your boyfriend - you _are_ my boyfriend...I thought," I spit out quickly.

"So, why can't we tell anyone?"

"Because then it's real!" I blurt out unexpectedly.

He stands for a moment, shocked at my words.

"You don't want it to be real?" he asks confused.

I shake my head.

"I do... I do, I'm just... scared," I admit to him.

"Scared of what?"

"Of it being real. I'm scared of losing you," I confess.

His eyebrows knit together at this.

"You're not gonna lose me," he assures me.

"But what if we don't work out?" I force out.

He looks hurts by this.

I take a deep breath before continuing.

"I know it's negative, but that's all I think about. I picture us telling our friends and yeah everything would be great, but then what? Then, we break up and then I lose you, our friend group splits up?"

"Chandler, you can't think like that."

"But I can't help, but think like that!"

Joey falls silent.

"Then, maybe it's not even worth trying," he says softly.

I shake my head, my stomach drops.

"No, no - it is. Joey, I really want to be with you, I'm sure of that!" I plead with him.

"It sounds like you're only sure we're gonna break up."

I shake my head and take his hand.

"No, it is worth trying. You're right, I want to be your boyfriend," I say, squeezing his hand in mine.

"I don't want to waste our time," Joey retorts.

"We're not - no! Joey, please - I love you!" I blurt out and the moment it leaves my mouth, I drop his hand and freeze completely.

He stares back at me and I think I might pass out.

"I... I..." I try to say something, but I can't even speak.

Joey takes my hand back and I'm holding my breath.

"I love you too," he says.

I finally breathe again and suddenly excitement fills my blood and it's suddenly the most amazing four words I've ever heard.

He leans in and kisses me and I pull him closer.

I love him - oh my god I love him and he loves me back.

He pulls back, but I pull him right in again. He laughs over my lips.

We walk back to the house hand in hand and I don't want to leave him especially after tonight.

We get to his room and he turns to me expecting to have to kiss me goodnight and watch me leave.

I walk in with him and I close the door. He watches me quizzically.

I walk over to him and put my arms around him.

"I'm staying," I whisper.

He smiles instantly.

He kisses me and then leads me right to the bed.

We fall onto the bed and this night becomes the most memorable night of my life.

* * *

**Author's Note:** One more chapter left! Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

I wake up and see Joey sprawled out next to me.

I smile instantly.

Last night was amazing and I weirdly feel completely calm and at ease even though we confessed our love for each other - which would normally trigger a rollercoaster of doubt and anxiety. Instead, I feel confident. I guess it's easy since I've known Joey for so long and it just feels so right.

I reach my hand out and caress his face gently, it wakes him up.

He slowly opens his eyes and smiles at me.

He shifts onto his side while turning me with him, spooning me into a wonderful cuddle until I feel something hard pressing against me.

"Well, someone is excited to see me this morning," I joke while turning in his arms to grin at him.

"I'm excited every morning," he notes.

I make an offended expression and he catches on.

"I mean every morning I'm with you," he clarifies.

He leans down to claim my lips.

I kiss him back, wishing I didn't miss out on this last night.

He keeps kissing me while subtly shifting his body over mine until he's completely on top of me.

I push him back lightly.

"I would love to, but we don't have time," I tell him.

"Since when?" he instantly argues.

I smirk at him.

"Since we have big plans today," I state.

"Okay, well they can start in like twenty minutes," he decides and leans back down to keep kissing me.

I pull away from his sweet lips, but he chooses to move right to my neck. I can't help, but laugh at his determination.

"Joey, I'm serious - it's a big day."

"Mhum," he mumbles over my skin.

I find his face with my hand and direct it back up.

He sighs.

"Don't you care what we're doing today?" I ask him.

"Yes, I care...but I will care more in five minutes."

"Five minutes? Wow, what a downgrade."

"Well, you're not even giving me _one!_" he mopes.

I smile at him and place my hands on his face.

"But we have to tell them today," I say.

"Tell who?" he asks.

Clearly not much blood is left in his brain right now.

"Our friends."

He looks at me more seriously now.

"Really? About us?"

"Of course," I chuckle.

He smiles so wide, it melts my heart. He lets out a very pleased breath as if I just lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.

"Thank you," he breathes and kisses me again.

I quickly slide out from under him.

"Okay, well we better get to it," I say, hopping out of the bed.

"Chandler, you can't be serious," he immediately whines.

I hide my smile and look at him in confusion.

"Of course I'm serious, you're not? Don't tell me you changed your mind - you don't want to tell them anymore?" I joke with him on purpose.

"No, I definitely want to tell them, but you can't leave me like this," he pouts.

I get back on the bed and lie down in front of him so our lips line up again.

"Like what?" I grin.

"All hot and bothered," he growls at me with a matching grin.

"Well, I could never leave you like that," I croon.

He stretches forward to kiss me and I climb over him now.

I pull back for a moment and look up at the door.

"Actually, what if they hear us?" I fake caution.

"Oh my god-"

"I'm kidding!" I laugh and fall right back to his lips to shut him up.

* * *

Joey and I proceed very satisfied to the kitchen about twenty minutes later.

Everyone is in the kitchen eating breakfast, talking and pouring coffee.

"Guys," I announce and everyone looks over.

I look at Joey and he flashes me a happy smile.

"We have something to tell you all," I say.

Everyone waits.

"Joey and I... are kind of a thing now," I admit.

The girls immediately light up.

"You guys are dating?!" Monica exclaims.

"More than dating, we're kind of in love," Joey answers for me.

"Oh my god, THEY'RE IN LOVE!" Monica yells with excitement.

We both smile as everyone runs over to share their excitement and support - even Bonnie who I wish didn't hug Joey so tightly, but that's for another day.

"How did this happen?! We need details now!" Rachel demands.

And so we settle in to tell them everything and it couldn't have gone any more perfect.

After a few hours, the excitement seems to die down and it feels normal except that now Joey and I are constantly in each other's arms, holding hands and stealing kisses every few seconds.

The rest of the day is more perfect than I even imagine.

Joey and I spend it how I imagined it from the start. We're together every second and I can't believe how much easier it is to have our friends know.

At the end of the day, I'm sitting next to Joey in the car for the long drive home. He runs his fingers up and down my arm lightly as Phoebe starts the car.

I look over at him and realize maybe we do break up one day, maybe this doesn't last forever, but even if that's the case, it was still worth it.

Every second has been worth it - forever.

* * *

**The End.**


End file.
